Everyday Wisdom

August 14, 2023

We all like shortcuts, especially when in traffic jams. Shortcuts are sometimes very helpful, while other shortcuts are counter-productive. Some may take a shortcut when baking cookies by skipping a couple of steps or leaving out an ingredient or two. It saves time and the cookies look like the ones with all the ingredients. But they do not TASTE the same.

In the spiritual life, a shortcut is called a “spiritual bypass.” An example of a spiritual bypass is substituting study for actual growth. In studying something, we master its concepts, background and buzzwords. We are fluent in the subject’s language and speak as if we have experienced the spiritual dimension we talk about. We may even trick ourselves into believing we are spiritually mature in a particular subject when we only have surface familiarity with it.

Other examples of spiritual bypass are surrounding ourselves with symbols of spiritual depth, attending spiritual events and working for charities. All of the above are beautiful and essential to spiritual growth. However, they are shortcuts that bypass the real spiritual experience and the spiritual teaching is lost.

Some of us like the highs of spiritual insights and the enthusiasm generated by spiritual groups. So we go from one spiritual adventure to the next. These give the feeling of spiritual affluence, but when the less exciting aspects and real work appear, we make excuses that our calendars are full. Then we run to the next convenient spiritual attraction.

What do spiritual bypasses bypass? Spiritual work. And spiritual work is the APPLICATION of spiritual principles to the things requiring the most spiritual energy. They need the most spiritual energy because they are difficult for us to surmount. It takes a huge effort to be free from our biases, controlling desires, distortions of reality, perceived deficiencies, avoidances and fears. In Enneagram terms, it takes a huge effort to be free of our passions, traps and avoidances. Ground zero of genuine spiritual growth is the application of spiritual principles to our pain.

The good news is that authentic spiritual growth, healing and wholeness are available if we want them. It’s a positive thing that people who seek a spiritual bypass have their ladders leaning against the wall of something that is spiritual, though the ladder may be missing some of its steps. Just think of the millions who don’t even desire spiritual peace.

Inquiry: What are three benefits of spiritual bypass?

Dear God,

When I have bypassed it, I feel the emptiness and superficiality of it all. I sicken myself with missing the lesson, the actual application, the holy way. I ask for a sixth sense to forgo the bypass. Amen.

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